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Saturday, July 16, 2016

Singapore - Organ donation has not caught on in Singapore

Singaporeans are still not donating their
organs despite several legislative changes made over the years to enlarge the
donor pool.

"The numbers of deceased organ
transplantation for kidney, heart and liver (has) remained low for the past 10
years," said a spokesman for the Ministry of Health (MOH).

There were 58 such organ transplants last
year, compared to 69 in 2006, latest figures from the National Organ Transplant
Unit show.

These numbers are a far cry from other
developed countries such as Spain and Norway, which have eight times the number
of cadaveric kidneys for every million people.

Donations from living donors - much better
for recipients than cadaveric organ donations - have seen only modest growth.
Last year, 58 people donated their kidneys and livers, up from 34 in 2006.

Despite legislative changes, such as
including Muslims as donors, the average wait for a kidney is still nine to 10
years and one to two years for a liver and heart. Many people with heart and
liver failure here die each year, and thousands with kidney failure are on
dialysis.

The availability of organs for
transplantation is influenced by factors such as public awareness, societal
views and religious beliefs, said the MOH spokesman.

"Even with legislations aimed at
improving deceased organ donations, there is a need to continuously engage the
public to raise awareness about the issues around organ donation and
transplantation, including the benefits of transplantation," she added.

Last year, 334 people were on the waiting
list for kidney transplants, with 54 people waiting for a liver and 23 for a
heart.

While the number of people waiting for liver
and heart transplants has risen, those waiting for a kidney have plunged by
about 70 per cent over the last 10 years. People are usually taken off the
waiting list as they could not get the organs in time and had either died, or
become too old or sick for a transplant.

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) said
eight in 10 of its patients are above 51 years old.

"We hope that more people will come
forward to donate because there is still a long way to go with the kidney
failure population continuing to increase at an alarming rate," said the
NKF spokesman.

On average, about five people here lose the
use of their kidneys each day.

Singapore has one of the highest kidney
failure rates in the world.

Low transplant rates here are partly due to
worries about surgical risk, poor health after donation and costs.

Transplant surgeons say the lack of buy-in by
other doctors to harvest organs upon death is also a factor, as organs have to
be retrieved during a certain time period.

"Organ donation is an emotive and
sensitive issue, especially for the next of kin who are coping with the loss of
their loved ones," said the MOH spokesman.

"With greater social awareness,
acknowledgement and acceptance about the realities of (the) suffering of
patients with organ failures and the life-saving acts of organ donations, we
are hopeful that the organ donation rates in Singapore will improve in the
coming years."